Bigger Fish
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Vergil is back. The only problem? Something far worse is on its way. Can brothers put aside their differences to save the world? DanteXTrish NeroXKyrie LadyXLucia(probably)
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.

* * *

New Target

The entire gang sat in Devil May Cry HQ bored as hell. They hadn't had a single call, with or without the password for days. The gang now officially meant Trish, Dante, Nero, and Kyrie for moral support and because Nero said so. Dante still kept in touch with Lady and Lucia, both of which he had had a fling with, something Trish was insanely jealous over despite not dating Dante. In fact, with the exception of Kyrie, Trish was the one girl Dante talked to that he hadn't had a fling with. Nero couldn't help but smirk at that fact.

"So, Nero," Dante began obviously going to ask about Nero and Kyrie's relationship.

As if a gift from God, the phone rang, interrupting Dante. Dante had upgraded his phone to something with buttons rather than a wheel to dial with, thank God, so Nero could see t was no one they knew.

"Devil May Cry," Nero answered setting his feet on the desk and doing his best Dante impression before paling as his grin faded. "Wait, slow down, how many? Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker phone so the boss can hear this."

Nero switched it over and asked the caller to repeat themselves.

"I live just a few hours south of Chicago so I know demons would seem normal as that city is infested, but I doubt this is normal!" the caller said clearly panicking.

"We can't help if we don't know what it is," Dante stated. "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" the caller snapped. "I woke up this morning and my house had been invaded by grim reapers!"

"Describe them," Dante sighed.

"Most as skeletons in tattered black robes with scythes but at least a third are massive with cloaks made out of darkness and cow skulls for heads. Cow skulls with glowing red horns," The caller stated.

"What are they doing?" Dante questioned suddenly interested. "And how many."

"At least a thousand total and last I knew most were all bowing in front of a hill and chanting," the caller stated.

"Is there anything on the hill?" Dante questioned.

"Just a second," the caller said before the line went silent. "Yes, there's a sword, looks like a katana with a white grip. And a girl on a cross."

"What does she look like?" Dante questioned while looking to Nero for an explanation about the sword.

"White jacket and extremely short shorts, short green air, I think, actually she's pretty hot," the caller stated and Dante so wished it had been a girl's voice instead of a man's. "It looks like there's a bazooka or something on the ground beside her."

"Oh God," Dante whispered. "Alright. Address."

While Kyrie wrote down the address, Nero, Dante, and Trish all walked to the back of the shop where his weapons were. Dante picked up Rebellion putting it in ts rightful place on his back and looked to Trish.

"Ready?" Dante asked.

"Maybe we should go a little better prepared than normal," Trish suggested.

"I'm not taking Sparda," Dante stated.

"No no," Trish grinned shaking her head. "Sparda's mine. But I'm also taking Ifrit."

"Which leaves Gilgamesh and Beowolf," Dante stated. "Nero has his Devil Bringer so I'll take Gilgamesh, it's stronger."

"Who are we going after?" Nero questioned. "Last I checked, that katana you gave me fused with my Devil Bringer."

"It's my brother," Dante stated. "Vergil. Your father, we suspect."

"My...father?" Nero questioned. "Uncle Dante? I don't think so."

"Guys," Trish interrupted. "As much as I hat to say it, if we're fighting an army and your brother, we'll need Lucia."

"That's true," Dante nodded. "Nero, you're gong to have to bring Kyrie. This place tends to be destroyed while we're gone once in a while. It's overdue."

Just then, the front door crashed open and Dante grabbed Pandora and ran out with the others to find a Death Scythe holding Lucia by the throat and ready to swing its scythe.

"Do it!" Lucia dared.

Suddenly, Nero held his Devil Bringer out and the phantom hand shot out and caught the Death Scythe by the skull and crushed it, destroying it.

"So you're Nero," Lucia smirked. "Nice arm."

"Thanks," Nero smirked. "We leaving now Dante?"

"Yes," Dante nodded. "Lucia, catch."

Dante tossed Beowolf to her and she put it on then nodded to Dante.

"What are you doing here?" Trish questioned.

"Lady called me," Lucia stated just as much hatred coming from her as from Trish. "She said the dick is back."

"Perfect," Dante sighed. "Come on, we have to go save Lady."

"He's back to Dante," Lucia said as he walked past her.

"Who now?" Nero questioned.

"The Despair Embodied," Dante stated. "This is going to be a very painful mission."

* * *

Read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.

* * *

Family Matter

Dante and Nero looked up at the castle then at each other and sighed. The mansion had been deserted, Vergil having already taken his army and Lady and traveled to an island not on any island where there was a castle that had a pair of devils standing beside the entrance, one with three eyes on his forehead and a pair of angel's wings and the other looking like a giant bug and holding Force Edge.

"This place is bad," Dante stated. "It was built as a shrine to both my father and Mundus, both before my father began to fight on the side of humans. Aside from that, I don't know anything about it."

"We should make sure your brother isn't breaking a seal," Nero stated remembering Dante's extremely exaggerated story about how he and Lady had met.

"Right," Dante nodded and the four of them walked forward near silently, Dante and Trish's tension about being near a statue of Mundus that was about life-size rubbing off onto Lucia and Nero.

Kyrie was waiting in the car but Nero stopped at the door and motioned for her to join them. She rushed over quietly with the others waiting then they all stepped inside and a barrier appeared on the door behind them. Dante sighed and walked forward a bit. The room they were in was large, reminiscent of Mallet Island in size. There was no upper level and only one other door leading out but there was still the massive statue of Mundus complete with the glowing blue flames.

"On Mallet Island, that statue _was_ Mundus but you never noticed," Trish stated. "Maybe we should check this one."

Dante nodded and held Pandora over his head. The briefcase flew open and a machine began to grow out of it. Dante slammed it down as it became a massive laser gun with three barrels. Dante aimed at the statue's chest and he fired. the blast exploded and the entire top half of the statue disintegrated. Dante retracted the gun and held Pandora by his side again shrugging at the others.

"Nothing," Dante said. "Come on. Let's go find my brother."

They nodded and they all went through the door on the far side and found themselves in a hallway with alternating Mundus and Sparda statues along the walls. The hallway curled around a corner while going up a flight of low stairs. They made their way up the stairs, moving through the next hallway quickly and reached the end soon, stopping. The far side was a carving of a field covered with skulls and having The Despair Embodied standing in the distance. Dante reached forward to touch the painting but Nero caught his arm with his Devil Bringer.

"How about we don't touch the obviously haunted wall carving," Nero suggested. "Blast it."

Dante grinned and nodded and they all walked to the minimum safe distance before Dante turned Pandora into it's laser cannon form and blasted the wall carving. it was intact when the smoke cleared.

"Told you so," Nero sighed as a shadow fell out of the bottom of the carving then traveled toward them on the ground.

After a moment it rose and formed a three dimensional saber-tooth tiger with a tail and Dante groaned.

"Kill it," Dante ordered turning Pandora into its missile cage form. "Guns only."

All four combatants began firing everything they had at the Shadow until the Shadow's body fell away revealing a glowing sphere. Nero instantly crushed it with his Devil Bringer then used the spectral arm to restrain the Shadow until it exploded.

"Impressive," Dante grinned. "It's much harder to kill alone."

"I'll bet," Nero nodded just as the wall carving split open revealing fifteen more between them and the only door.

"Here we go then," Nero sighed.

* * *

Nero pushed the door closed and sighed, looking to the others just as five shadow spikes protruded from the door, one under each arm, one on either side of his head, and one between his legs. They all retracted and Nero practically leapt away from the door. The last five Shadows would undoubtedly break the door down within a minute but Nero and Dante had managed to get all five of them through the door to safety while also eliminating ten of the things. Now, however, they were tired and unable to fight any more.

"We should run," Dante suggested when the door was hit so hard it dented toward them a foot before stopping.

"Yep," Nero nodded and they all sprinted around the corner, the door flying after them.

After a few minutes, they managed to find their way out of the castle to the courtyard and closed the portcullis behind them, trapping the Shadows inside.

"That should hold them, right?" Kyrie questioned just before all five became two dimensional and passed under the portcullis.

"No," Dante stated.

The five stood up just as Dante began raining laser blasts around them from Pandora, killing them all within a minute.

"Why didn't you do that inside?" Nero demanded.

As if in answer, the entire gate they had just exited through crumbled from the explosions.

"Oh," Nero said. "Alright then."

They all walked through the other gate and found themselves on a cliff, overlooking an army of assembled Hell Prides and Death Scythes. Vergil stood on a pile of logs with a single wooden post, about the size of a telephone pole beside him. Lady was tied to the post, with several bruises on her face and blood stains on her shirt.

"Welcome Dante, Nero," Vergil called in greeting. "I welcome you to our little celebration, honoring the day Mundus returns."

"He hasn't returned," Dante stated just before Nero grabbed Kyrie and leapt off the cliff and the others followed his example.

The cliff exploded and Dante used his devil form to fly them all to the ground safely.

"Not yet," Vergil smirked. "Nero, I first have a question for you. You've met Lady right? Have you ever wondered why guns come as easily to you as swords?"

"That's two questions," Nero stated. "And not really."

"I'll give you a hint," Nero grinned. "It has nothing to do with your father."

"Then it would have to be...my...no," Nero breathed realization settling in as Dante suddenly looked disgusted. "Lady's my mother? God da...wait...then...You son of a bitch! You raped her didn't you?"

"Rape?" Vergil questioned before grinning. "Oh...you poor deluded fool. I am not your father. If I were, I would have killed you for being weak. No, your father does, however, look a lot like me...my dear nephew."

"Nephew?" Nero gaped. "FUCK NO! Dante is so NOT my father!"

"That's bull shit, isn't it Lady?" Dante questioned.

Lady hung her head, refusing to look at him and both Dante and Nero groaned in annoyance.

"It would explain an awful lot," Trish stated. "And is probably what I'm going to write on Dante's tombstone, if I give him one."

"Jealous Trish?" Lucia grinned.

"Enough!" Vergil snapped. "Believe it or not, I did not actually bring you here to kill you or you son's mother. There are bigger fish to fry."

Vergil drew his katana and cut the ropes then held his hand out toward Nero and Yamato flew out of his hand, leaving Nero gasping for breath and shaking in agony as it did so. Vergil caught it and smashed his other sword with it then put Yamato in its sheath.

"Mundus is returning, though I'm not going to revive him," Vergil stated. "The Despair Embodied and Arkham are."

"Arkham?" Dante questioned.

"That's right," Vergil nodded. "He's back again. And he wants Sparda."

"He'll die again," Lady stated. "And this time it will be permanent."

"What would you know, human?" Vergil questioned, voice dripping malice.

"Leave her alone," Nero ordered putting his sword to Vergil's neck, holding it in his Devil Bringer.

"You think you can kill me?" Vergil questioned. "Then what happens with them?"

Nero looked behind him as the assembled reaper demons began to walk forward.

"Your army isn't too loyal once they figure out what side you're on," Nero stated turning to face them.

"Indeed," Vergil nodded stepping over between Dante and Nero.

"You know, I never did like Hell Prides," Dante smirked. "Too weak."

"But Death Scythes are much better," Vergil stated.

"Agreed," Dante nodded. "Shall we...brother?"

"Let's," Vergil grinned as the two brothers charged into the demons, swords drawn wiping demons out right and left while staying within two feet of each other.

Dante was wearing Gilgamesh still so anything that didn't die from one of their blades, died from his fist or foot. While they fought, the Death Scythes largely bypassed them in favor of Trish and Nero who were killing them with their guns like a shooting range, Kyrie was standing beside Lucia who was allowing Lady to lean on her shoulder for support, being too weak to stand alone.

"This is too easy," Dante stated.

As if on cue, Blood Goats and Abyss Goats began appearing over them from circular spheres. Nero really anted to punch Dante for speaking but restrained himself. The new demons moved to reinforce the Hell Prides and quickly managed to restrain Dante while Vergil took Rebellion keeping the goats at bay using both brothers' swords. Nero took a step forward to help but Trish caught his arm just as a Hydra landed in front of them. It was a giant creature with a massive body, four heavily muscled legs, claws that could shred steel, teeth that could do even more damage, and five heads. Four were able to spit poison from their teeth, making for a painful death while the middle head could breathe fire.

Within seconds, Dante, who who had just barely been freed by Vergil, was caught by not one but all four of the poisonous mouths, each biting a limb and a fifth of the devil hunter's torso, drawing blood but only biting hard enough to pump him full of a lethal dose of venom. Vergil darted forward and slashed a leg then jumped and removed one of the four heads making the remaining four scream in pain, hurling Dante into the air. The severed head flew off, tearing stripes the length of Dante's arm and that section of his torso. Dante caught him and gave him to Trish then leapt onto the Hydra as it regrew its severed head plus not one, but two spares.

"Don't cut the fucking heads off!" Nero shouted in annoyance that Dante's _brother_ didn't already know that.

And with that, Nero drove his sword into the Hydra's back and cut it open then dropped inside, instantly regretting it as its blood proved to be acid. He drew Blue Rose and emptied it in the general direction of the heart, cutting the stream of fire above him short. Then, he climbed out and leapt off, his coat ruined, pants reduced to shorts, boots gone, and skin missing completely in some places. The Hydra released a single, short cry of pain, then fell to its side, turning into dust before it landed.

"Fuck!" Nero swore trying pointlessly to even slow his bleeding.

"You're only a quarter demon," Vergil stated. "You just got yourself killed, you stupid son of a bitch."

Nero aimed at Vergil and pulled the trigger, making Vergil flinch and grinned.

"You...can go...suck a...dick...asshole," Nero panted, breath already shallow.

"How do we save him?" Kyrie questioned.

"We don't," Trish sighed. "Dante will live thanks to being part demon but Nero isn't enough of a demon. He's going to die."

"Fuck...you guys," Nero panted, his Devil Bringer glowing.

Suddenly, the arm spread until his entire body looked like the arm, the face an empty spot of blue, the wounds healed, and his clothes gone, probably also covered. The skin looked more like a suit of form-fitting armor, however, and had no visible genitalia, much to Nero's relief. Then, the skin receded back to it just being his forearm and hand, leaving Nero exactly as he had been before, minus the wounds. he even still had his clothes.

"Armor," Vergil stated. "Armor that heals you. Impressive."

Nero stood then grabbed Vergil by the face with his Devil Bringer.

"If you ever hurt one of my friends again, I'll crush you into paste," Nero growled, dragging Vergil forward so that he could whisper. "Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Vergil said, voice muffled by Nero's hand.

Nero shoved Vergil away then turned to Dante.

"How long till he wakes up?" Nero questioned.

"Could be a few hours, could be a month," Trish stated.

Nero nodded, picking Dante up with his Devil Bringer's spectral arm then looking at the others.

"We should get back to Devil May Cry," Nero stated. "I'm pretty sure Dante has the antidote there."

"No need but we might as well check, in case Mundus decides we need a Hydra," Trish sighed.

They all waked back to their plane and Nero deposited Dante in one of the seats and strapped him in then took the pilot's seat. Once they were all strapped in, he took off for Dante's third favorite building in the world, second only to a strip joint that offered pizza and beer on their food menu, and their local Hooters.

* * *

Read and review. You can't honestly tell me that you can't see Dante at either place. Heck, I can even see Trish right there with him, if not on the stage.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.

* * *

Back Story

"I've had enough of this," Vergil finally spoke up after an hour of waiting for someone to call only for Nero to hang up since they didn't have the password. "We've been waiting for a job to pass the time while Dante recovers yet every time we get a call, you simply hang up. I've had enough. It was y hope to have assistance fighting Mundus but I cannot stand to be with you any longer. I'm out of here."

"No, you're not," Dante croaked from the couch without looking up. "You're going to stay with them even after I recover. Mundus is out of their league and you know it. Nero and I will handle him."

"Why should I care if Mundus kills them all?" Vergil demanded. "They mean nothing to me."

"You owe me!" Dante snapped sitting up despite the pain. "You are going to care because of Kat! You are going to care, because if you protect them through this soon-to-be bloodbath, we'll be even."

"I...alright," Vergil muttered, defeated. "I'll protect them."

"Who's Kat?" Nero questioned voicing everyone's question.

"Kat is...was, I suppose...Dante's first love," Vergil stated.

"Was?" Trish questioned already sensing Dante's mood darken.

"A long time ago, when I was eighteen, at most, me and Vergil had both repressed our memories of our family," Dante began. "We didn't remember each other, or our parent, nothing. The lesser demons of the world, and even some of the higher ones, all believed that we were half angel due to our abilities. But that doesn't matter. Back then, and Lady would be the only one of you old enough to remember, there were three worlds. The Human World, the Demon World, and Limbo. Limbo, was a realm where demons and humans could both survive, as Demons were incapable of surviving iin the Human World at the time. Demons would drag humans down into Limbo then kill them, eat them, or whatever. All of Limbo was controlled, however, by one demon. That demon, had placed himself as the mayor of Limbo City, a place I eventually found myself.

"I thought you said that Demons couldn't live in the real world," Trish interrupted.

"He and a few of his followers had possessed the actual mayor and his staff as well as others," Dante explained. "Anyway, back then, I didn't care about anything but me. I did anything that made me feel good. Alcohol, drugs, prostitutes, you name it. Eventually, as I said, I found myself in Limbo City. I had already killed dozens of demons who had pulled me into Limbo so demons generally knew better than to try, except, that the ruling demon of Limbo City wasn't just any demon. He was Mundus's right hand, before you, Trish. He sent a Hunter Demon, a demon specifically trained to track and eliminate any humans that were capable of killing demons. I would have been one of his victims as well, if I hadn't been warned about his presence by a girl dressed as a slutty female version of Robin Hood. The demon dragged me into Limbo but I killed it since I had known it was coming and couldn't get me by surprise. After I had escaped Limbo by killing the demon that dragged me in, Kat led me to a group of resistance fighters who were fighting against the demons. The city had been hit by several disasters all labeled as terrorist attacks by the group, but Vergil, reigning leader of the group, told me that they were fighting the head demon by destroying several of the locations that he used to control Limbo City, such as a factory that was a breeding ground for demons that were slowly possessing the residents of Limbo City."

"Breeding as in..." Lucia began but trailed off.

"Yes," Dante nodded. "Literal breeding. Not the most pleasant building to be forced to break into. Anyway, I joined the group under the delusion that fighting the demons would help me remember my past, and because Kat, who just happened to be a psychic, promised to try to help unlock my memories. I destroyed the factory and several other places before we decided to take the boss himself down, mostly me and Vergil. At the last moment, however, we found out that our old house was in Limbo City. Me and Kat went to see it and my memories returned. About the same time, it got swarmed by demons. We both escaped Limbo but the possessed SWAT team busted in. Vergil tried to help us escape but in the chaos, Kat was shot in the shoulder and captured. We returned to our base while SWAT burned it down. The next day, I went after the head demon's wife, Lilith, and captured her after killing her and the head demon's child. I offered Lilith as a trade and the head demon accepted, only to try to kill us when we got there. Vergil arrived just in time to help out and we killed Lilith along with the SWAT team. Kat survived and we took her back to the base before I went after the head demon with Vergil while Kat stayed behind. After a long, bloody, and very painful fight, we had to run away and escaped Limbo to find Kat waiting in a car as a get away driver.

"As we drove, the level of control the demon had over Limbo became apparent. He had named the city Limbo City because it was where he tethered Limbo to the human world, effectively joining the two and allowing any destruction done in Limbo to be mirrored in the Human World. Case and point, as we drove, he was in Limbo destroying buildings that then collapsed around us in the Human World. Finally he dragged me and Vergil into Limbo one last time. We managed to kill him but as he died and we returned to the Human World, we saw the consequences. He hadn't been in control of Limbo, he had been the personification of it. As he died, Limbo fused with our world, the world it was already partially joined with. This had been the head demon's standing order from Mundus. The moment the two worlds were joined, demons, by the hundreds flooded into the Human World to celebrate. by the time we killed the last of them, Limbo City had been wiped out, standing as a ruin. Standing not even being the right word. There was one building out of five thousand that was still up and that didn't last long after Vergil announced his big plan to rule Humanity with an army of demons now that the human world and Limbo were one."

"Wait a minute," Lady spoke up. "You two were responsible for the Limbo Event?"

"Yes," Dante agreed. "As I was saying, in the end, I beat him and would have killed him if Kat hadn't begged me not to. I let him leave and He didn't return for a month. In that time, Kat and I were happy together. Had things been different, I may have actually considered marrying her. But then Vergil returned while we were hunting. He caught her and when I found him, he merely smiled and slit her throat as I watched. I tried to fight him again but he beat me then left for the Demon World, allowing me to live. Two years later, I cared for Humanity, thanks solely to Kat, but when my brother returned with Arkham to unleash the Demon World on ours, all I cared about was revenge. You, Lady, showed me that stopping him was more important than taking my revenge on him. As a result, I once again let him live. Until Mallet Island. Vergil had been corrupted by Mundus and became Nelo Angelo, otherwise known as the Black Knight, and this time, I killed him. Now that he's back, he owes me for killing Kat. And he will work that debt off. Or I will personally go to Hell and teach them how to torture."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes before Dante pushed himself up off the couch.

"I'm going to bed," Dante stated limping toward his bedroom. "Remember Vergil. You will regret double-crossing me again."

And with that, he pulled his door closed, and it was silent.

* * *

Read and review.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.

* * *

Side Missions

Lucia stepped around the corner, hurling several knives and reducing a group of Hell Prides to dust as Lady followed. The two of them were in a town that was apparently flooded with various demons but so far had only found a few scattered groups of Hell Pride and one Abyss.

"What's the deal?" Lady questioned. "I thought this place would be packed. Instead I have to let the girl with the knives do all the work."

"You're welcome to take my place," Lucia offered retrieving her knives and standing, turning toward Lady.

"No thank you," Lady said raising her hands in front of herself. "By all means, continue. But, I do want to ask, if you don't mind, how did you and Dante meet?"

"He came to help me and a friend of mine stop someone from freeing a powerful demon," Lucia stated. "In the end, we failed and Dante went into the demon world to fight the demon itself while I fought the man who unleashed it who was possessed by the demon. Then, I took over his business while I waited for him to get back."

"Really?" Lady questioned. "You two had a thing right?"

"Once," Lucia nodded. "But that was a very long time ago."

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Lady questioned.

"Do you?" Lucia questioned.

"What do you mean?" Lady questioned.

"You keep asking me questions about my history with him like you're afraid I'm competition," Lucia stated.

"N-no!" Lady stammered. "It's n-not that. I just..."

"Let me guess," Lucia grinned. "After your horrible experience with Dante you were so emotionally scarred you turned lesbian and now you have the hots for me."

Lady turned crimson but managed to shake her head.

"N-no!" Lady squeaked.

"You sure?" Lucia grinned.

"Y-yes," Lady stammered.

"Good," Lucia smirked. "The last thing I need is even more competition for Trish's attention. Dante's more than enough competition."

"You're..." Lady began but trailed off glimpsing movement behind Lucia.

"No," Lucia nodded. "I'm not a lesbian. I'm bisexual."

"Abyss," Lady warned quietly. "Thirty steps behind you."

Lucia spun hurling her knives and hitting it in the throat. It dropped to the ground, beginning to sink into the ground and leaving the knife behind. Lucia walked over and retrieved it then turned around to see Lady staring at her.

"What?" Lucia questioned.

"You're...amazing," Lady breathed making Lucia blink in surprise before giving her a confused look. "I mean...God damn! why did Dante not stay with you?"

"The hell should I know?" Lucia questioned. "Guess I wasn't his type. I think he likes his women with a bit more leather. And attitude."

"No doubt," Lady smirked. "So, want to split up and see who can find and beat the most remaining ones?"

"Nah," Lucia said waving a hand. "Might as well not bother. There's probably not that many anyway."

"If you insist," Lady shrugged.

* * *

"Please," Nero pleaded.

"For the last time, no!" Vergil snapped. "I don't care how much of my power you somehow have. I'm not teaching you to use Summoned Swords."

"I can already use them," Nero stated. "Or, at least, I could while I had Yamato. I want to be able to use them without it. Like you do."

"No," Vergil said flatly. "I can use it because I am half devil. You are only one fourth. You are not strong enough."

"Just tell me how you do it," Nero pleaded.

"I focus, create a sword, and fire it," Vergil stated unhelpfully, firing a sword into an alleyway and sand blew back out.

"You useless bastard," Nero sighed. "Can I at least borrow your sword for a second?"

"No," Vergil growled.

"Please?" Nero begged. "Just long enough to remember how to do it?"

"No," Vergil repeated killing a group of Abyss easily with Summoned Swords. "You can't do it anyway. Give up."

Nero sighed and looked down at his hand before drawing his sword with that hand before extending the phantom hand. It was holding a ghostly katana. Nero slashed experimentally and the katana cut easily through the building across from him. Nero sighed and let the arm disappear then put the sword away. Vergil rolled his eyes and they began to walk, both sensing the power pouring out of the massive cut in the building behind them. They sensed it beginning to condense and form into something, though they couldn't tell what it was.

"You had to test out that sword," Vergil sighed.

"Quit complaining," Nero grinned. "We both know you love a fight as much as me and Dante."

"True," Vergil sighed. "I suppose it's not as bad as it could be."

They both turned, Nero drawing his sword and Vergil extending the first inch of his own from its sheath but both froze. The creature before them was not one thing but two. Two three-dimensional shadows stood before them. One held a black version of Nero's Red Queen, holding it diagonally to its left side in a shadowy Devil Bringer that was its left hand. Its right hand held a black version of Nero's revolver. It had on a long black translucent cloak but no other distinguishing features.

The other shadow creature was slightly taller, with a similar cloak but more solid. This one had what seemed like silhouetted hair combed backward. It held a black katana, the blade an inch out of the sheath and the left hand gripping the sheath while the right was ready to draw and swing the sword. Aside from that, there was no other difference from a simple shadow.

"Doppelgangers," Nero growled. "Got a flashlight?"

"No," Vergil growled. "This fight is going to suck. At least until the sun comes up."

"Yep," Nero agreed. "Shame you didn't show me how to use those swords."

"You can't hurt a shadow with them," Vergil stated.

"No," Nero agreed. "You can't. But I could kill mine while running away if you had."

"What a shame," Vergil smirked. "I don't intend to be running when that sun rises."

"No," Nero agreed. "You'll be dead."

Vergil snorted and drew his sword as the shadow copy did the same. Nero, however, was the first to actually do anything. He put his sword away and grabbed Vergil, sprinting away as Vergil sent blasts of energy back into the buildings, collapsing them into the doppelgangers' path. Then, Nero skidded to a stop and Vergil flipped to his feet, sensing the problem. The doppelgangers were now standing in front of them, both with swords drawn and ready. Nero drew his sword and sighed, turning and walking away from Vergil who did the same. When they were a hundred feet apart, Nero turned and shot at his shadow. His shot passed straight through and the shadow returned fire, shooting once and barely grazing Nero's left shoulder. Nero sighed and put his pistol away and charged. When they reached each other, they both slashed and and their swords met in a shower of sparks.

Across the road, Vergil and his shadow clashed as well. The difference was that Vergil's fighting style, and subsequently his shadows, was focused mainly on bodily injury. The result was that the shadow was unharmed while Vergil had a massive gash in his stomach.

"Block the sword!" Nero shouted, ducking under a slash and then blocking another. "You can't hurt them!"

Vergil glanced at Nero, glaring at his back, then began to direct his attacks into the shadow's blade. Nero blocked his doppelganger's sword again and experimentally threw a punch at his shadow, as expected the Devil Bringer passing straight through. The doppelganger slashed at Nero and Nero leapt to the side, the doppelganger's blade crashed down in the ground and Nero slashed at it, launching it away from the doppelganger who grinned, holding up its hand. A massive spectral ghost appeared behind it, the doppelganger's sword turning to a pool of shadow and shooting across the ground to it and reforming in its hand again as the shadow's specter formed a dark katana.

"Shit!" Nero swore. "Vergil! Help!"

Vergil ignored Nero, barely able to keep his own doppelganger from shredding him. As much as he loved fighting he liked it considerably more when he could actually win. Nero activated his Devil Bringer and his own specter formed behind him, complete with katana. Nero began to duel with his doppelganger, struggling to keep it from killing him while Vergil did the same. Then, things went down hill. Vergil's doppelganger shifted into its demon form and bisected Vergil before he could react. Nero blocked a slash from his doppelganger then spun, his specter slashing at Vergil's doppelganger. It blocked the slash before a third arrived, pulling Vergil's halves away from Vergil's doppelganger before slamming them together, the two halves fusing back together. Then, the doppelganger turned to Vergil's doppelganger and charged. Their blades met instantly in a shower of sparks followed by fragments of darkness. both had slashed each other and had wounded each other. Nero grinned when he realized that the new doppelganger looked like a shadow form of Dante in his Rebellion devil form, complete with a dark Rebellion.

Nero looked back in time to take a sword across his chest, his specter fading while the doppelganger's readied itself to kill Nero. Before it could, Nero grinned and held his devil bringer up, the arm spreading into a full suit of armor again and healing him as he picked up his sword again. The doppelganger sprinted forward, slashing at him with both its sword and its specter's. Nero blocked both at once then shoved them both away.

Vergil turned to help Nero just as Nero's body began to shine anywhere it was blue. Not just shine, however, it was radiating pure ultraviolet light. Nero caught his doppelganger's sword and the doppelganger solidified as Nero dragged him into the ring of light created by his glowing body. He raised his sword to slash at it but before he could, something hit him in the back and exploded. Nero soared past the doppelganger, then stood as an Abyss stepped out of the shadows where it had blasted Nero. Then another. And another. And another. Nero sprinted forward, body no longer glowing, as he began to tear into the Abyss with an animalistic and berserk ferocity. In fact, he had neglected to take his sword when he had attacked them. It was still laying where it had fallen.

Vergil noticed this but didn't have time to consider it before also noticing Nero's doppelganger running at Dante's, who was still battling Vergil's own. Vergil met Nero's and forced it onto the defensive, keeping it from interfering and killing Dante's shadow. For a few minutes, it almost seemed they might be able to last a while, until Nero finished the Abyss and turned, grabbing Vergil and hurling him aside before grabbing his own doppelganger by the throat, body glowing again, and roaring. Not a human's roar of rage, or pin, or frustration. This roar, was frighteningly monstrous. Unsettling.

_Demonic,_ Vergil thought pushing himself up and grabbing Yamato. _Shit!_

He fired a Summoned Blade at Nero, the blade shattering against him and making him release the doppelganger. Nero turned slowly, looking back at Vergil and growling. Vergil gulped at the sound as Nero grew claws about a foot long each and a mouth opened in his head. It was lined by countless razor-sharp teeth and darkness was flowing out of it like smoke. Nero roared again and charged, slashing at Nero, who blocked the attack, barely, before leaping away. Nero's doppelganger charged at Dante's again but stopped this time when the ground before him exploded and Lady landed between Nero's doppelganger and Dante's while Lucia landed beside Vergil, readying her swords.

"We're all going to die," Lady stated.

"Yep," Vergil agreed. "Lady, you help Lucia with Nero. I'll take his shadow."

Lady nodded and Lucia attacked Nero, distracting him while he attacked Nero's doppelganger and Lady aimed the Spiral rifle she had gotten from Dante at Nero and squeezed off a round. The kickback nearly dislocated her shoulder but the bullet hit the mark. Nero flew through the air, crashing into the wall of a building and dropping to the ground and stood, dusting himself off but unharmed and the blue parts of his body darkening. Within a minute they were all an angry orange. At that moment, Trish and Dante both landed beside Lady and Lucia watching Nero carefully.

"If that turns red he'll be gone," Dante stated. "We have maybe three minutes."

"What do we do?" Lady questioned.

"Beat him," Dante stated. "Trish, Lucia, help Vergil and my doppelganger. I'll deal with him. Lady, you cover us from the Abyss that me and Trish saw closing in."

"Okay," Lady nodded turning in the direction Dante had pointed and Dante charged forward, slashing at Nero.

Trish and Lucia both attacked Nero's doppelganger allowing Vergil to go help with his own. Just as Vergil reached his doppelganger, Dante sailed through it, slashing its sword out of the way of his own doppelganger's and allowing it to be killed. Then, he stood and his doppelganger returned to him while Vergil turned toward Nero.

"How strong?" Vergil questioned.

"My sword doesn't have enough power to hurt him," Dante stated. "Let me borrow yours for a minute."

Vergil handed it over and took Rebellion and Dante charged, slashing Nero across the stomach. The effect was instant. Not only did the sword not break through, it snapped. Nero caught Dante by the throat and lifted him into the air before Dante smashed one of his fists, armored with Gilgamesh, into Nero's face, sending him flying. Nero crashed into the wall and the orange lightened a bit. Dante darted forward, driving his fist into Nero's stomach then jumped and delivered a powerful kick to the head, sending him flying. Nero landed on his feet and crouched sideways with one hand out forming a Kung Fu style claw and the other a fist by his waist. Dante sprinted forward and threw a punch but Nero hit it aside with a palm strike before pivoting and placing his fist completely through Dante's abdomen with a low punch. Dante staggered backward and the wound healed as he growled in frustration and readied himself again. Nero threw a palm strike toward Dante despite the ten feet between them and a massive spectral hand appeared beside him and slammed Dante into a wall.

Trish appeared behind Nero, who was back to orange, and smashed her Ifrit covered fist into his head, sending a thousand volts of electricity into him as well. Nero crashed into the wall where Lucia, wearing Beowolf and Dante both smashed their fists into him, knocking him out. The armor receded into the hand and Nero slumped to the ground as the sun finally began to peak over the roof of a building to the east. Nero's doppelganger turned to flee but ran straight into Rebellion, which Vergil had been using to fight him. Dante handed Vergil both halves of Yamato and Vergil handed Rebellion back, holding the two halves together near the break then entering his demon form. The sword repaired itself and Vergil returned to normal, putting Yamato in its sheath.

"He can't use that armor again," Vergil stated.

"I agree," Dante nodded. "But we're not removing his arm. We'll figure it out later. For now, let's just get back to my place so we can rest. I don't fancy seeing what's out and about during the day."

"It can't be worse than doppelgangers," Vergil scoffed.

Just then a growl rose behind them and they all turned to see hundreds of Shadows standing in the street and Dante glared at Vergil.

"Not bad at all huh?" Dante growled drawing Rebellion as the others readied themselves.

"Somebody wake up Nero," Vergil ordered and Lucia rushed over to him, slapping him.

"I'm up," Nero slurred jerking awake and looking around, seeing the Shadows. "Shit!"

He rushed over to the others, grabbing his sword on the way by and drew his pistol.

"Good morning," Dante greeted. "As you can probably tell, I'm not in a good mood. "I'm in pain, I got my ass kicked by a snot-nosed brat, and I forgot to bring Pandora."

"That sucks," Nero grinned. "Beaten by your own son. Go get Pandora. We'll hold these things...shit."

As he was speaking, half of the Shadows had begun to mutate. They formed silhouettes of humans wielding generic long sword silhouettes. Nero groaned but sprinted forward and slashed at the first Shadow, a silhouette, and it blocked it before fifteen canine Shadows leapt at him. He smashed them all away with his Devil Bringer's specter arm then jumped back as another humanoid silhouette slashed at him.

"Damn," Nero growled. "Assholes."

"I'm not going anywhere," Dante stated.

"That's okay," Nero grinned. "We'll just do it the fun way."

Dante rolled his eyes and they both charged forward, followed closely by Vergil. Dante arrived first, cutting through two Shadows with no effect. Nero, being next in line, shot both and exposed their cores before slashing them, killing both. Dante switched Rebellion for Ebony and Ivory. he began spinning, shooting any Shadows he could and Nero blasted any he missed with his revolver. As soon as a Shadow's core was exposed, Vergil sent a Phantom Sword through it, killing the Shadow. After a few more seconds, Dante blocked the sword of a shadow with Ebony as Nero kept the others from attacking him from behind. Dante put Ivory to the Shadow's stomach and blasted it, exposing the core and slashing it. All three made good progress for a short while before being forced back to the girls who all drew guns to help them shoot the Shadows.

Finally, the last of the shadows fled and Vergil turned to Dante.

"I dislike this city," Vergil stated. "What will we have to deal with next?"

"God know," Dante growled. "Let's just go kill the next group."

* * *

Read and review.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Devil May Cry or any of the characters.

* * *

New Target

Vergil stepped around the building and stopped. Dante stopped at his side and both exchanged equally impassive looks. Nero was recovering at Devil May Cry and the girls were watching over him. After the fight against the shadows, fatigue from the armor had finally overtaken him and he had collapsed. Dante and Vergil had been clearing the city and were in the last part of it. Here, however, the demonic power had been strongest. Now they saw why. There was an organic substance covering everything in a large section. The stuff itself wasn't a demon but there was a demon inside a pod suspended between the ground and a lamp post by several strands of the fleshy substance. It literally looked like a sack of skin but was partially see-through, allowing them to see what looked like a humanoid inside but it was hard to say based on the clothes it had on. A coat not unlike Dante and Vergil's by the looks of it.

"Shall we meet our friend?" Dante asked drawing Rebellion.

"Let's," Vergil nodded drawing Yamato. "After you."

Dante slashed at the pod but just before his sword met the pod, the side opposite the demon brothers burst open, the demon leaping out, both catching a glimpse of him. Silver hair falling down over his eyes and past his ears, wet from whatever liquid was still pouring out of the pod, blood red leather trench coat flapping behind him, bright blue military pants, black combat boots, and a pitch black katana in the sheath, held by the left hand. Then, the person was around the corner and Dante and Virgil both stared in shock.

"What was that?" Dante asked.

"No idea," Dante stated. "Go after him. And kill him if you need to."

"I'm sure we will," Vergil stated. "Good luck clearing the city."

Vergil sprinted after the demon, finding it waiting in an alleyway facing him, coat open fully and three glowing red dots shining proudly on its chest over its black kevlar vest. Vergil sprinted toward it but skidded to a stop as a column of flames shot up around the demon, devouring him. Vergil was about to walk away when he realized he could still sense it from the flames, along with a familiar energy.

"You bastard," Vergil growled. "Tell me you didn't go there."

He stepped into the flames and suddenly appeared in the center of a circular platform with four supports extending into the dark void around the platform. Each support looked like a dead tree. Vergil recognized the place instantly.

"Shit, the Bloody Palace," Vergil snarled. "Damnit Dante. All the times our family got in trouble for coming here and it was always you. You know this place. You should be the one doing this now."

Several Hell Prides appeared before Vergil and he smirked drawing Yamato.

"That said, I'm going to beat your record," Vergil growled charging forward and beginning to slaughter the demons.

Several Hell Lusts appeared as he did and attacked him from behind but he killed them all with Summoned Swords. Once all three were dead, three pillars formed, one made of fire, one of water, and one of steam and lightning.

"Let me see if I remember, water portal heals but only jumps one floor, lightning portal returns energy but jumps ten floor, and fire does not recover anything but jumps one hundred floors," Vergil recalled from Dante's explanation years ago. "Very well. I know which I'm going through."

He stepped into the fire portal and his soul rocketed upward, his body burning away below him, complete with Yamato. He shot up through floor after floor, suddenly thinking maybe he had made a mistake. After what seemed like no time at all, he reached floor 100 and stopped, in his newly restored body.

"That was...unnerving," Vergil said aloud, holding a hand to his head. "I'm so never coming back here."

He stepped forward and a shadow appeared in front of him in dog form with three Hell Sloths behind him and a group of five Bloody Puppets on his right. He drew Yamato again, sprinting at the Bloody Puppets, as they were the easiest target. He bisected them all, destroying them, then leapt back as the shadow crashed down where he had been, reforming a dog as Vergil dropped to one knee, blocking the scythes of the three Hell Sloths above himself, the points of the blades stopping an inch above his head. He smirked and fired a Summoned Sword into each, killing them before turning to the shadow. It growled, crouching before a Summoned Sword drove itself into its face. The shadow fell away, exposing the core which Vergil also placed a Summoned Sword in, killing the creature. The same three portals appeared and Vergil sprinted forward, stepping into the flame portal with the same result. The next floor, however, was a very large stadium with a massive blue horse with a black chariot and blue flames for a mane. Yamato drew his sword but waited, deciding it was smarter to let the horse make the first move.

The hoarse reared up on its hind legs then charged forward, bringing the chariot with it. Vergil dove to the side, allowing the horse to pass then began to run alongside it. As he did, arrows shot out of the top of the chariot, falling toward Vergil, blue flames alit on the heads. Vergil slashed with Yamato, sending a blast of energy out and blasting a diagonal gash open on the horse's side. It screamed in pain, veering toward him and he dove forward, the horse shooting past him, the spikes on the wheels only narrowly missing. Vergil stood, firing several Summoned Swords at the horse but it stood up again then slammed its hooves down, sending out a wave of blue flames. The flames blocked the blades and Vergil leapt, barely clearing it. Just as he landed, the horse repeated the stomp but no flames appeared in front of him. Yet, he could hear them. His eyes widened as he looked back just in time for the flames to reach him, shooting past and igniting him. He burned for several seconds before the fires went out and the horse charged. This time, it knocked him over then ran over him, hooves rolling him along for several feet before the horse jumped, it and the chariot vanishing in a ball of blue flames. Vergil pushed himself up just as the horse reappeared on the opposite side of the arena, charging straight at him.

"Enough of this," Vergil growled, shifting into his devil form and darting forward and past the horse just to its right, slashing along its side with Yamato as he did.

He shifted back and slowly put Yamato back into its sheath as the horse snorted. Just as the sword clicked into place, the horse exploded into a ball of flames which burned out in seconds. Then, a single portal appeared in the center of the room. Vergil stepped into it and was blinded by a flash of light before reappearing on floor 200.

"Only two hundred?" Vergil growled. "Damn. This might take a while."

As he spoke, three Hell Vanguards appeared opposite him and one Hell Greed appeared behind them. He growled in frustration and sprinted forward, shifting into devil form as he did and slashed all three Vanguards. Before he could get to the Hell Greed, three spirits that it had released from its coffin rose out of the ground as Hell Lusts and all three slashed at him, their scythes driving themselves through him before stopping. He spun, hurling all three into the invisible barrier around the platform before slashing the Hell Greed. The three Hell Lusts all stood just in time for Vergil to throw their scythes back at them, killing them all. The three portals appeared and this time he headed for the water portal. The moment he stepped into it, the upward current ripped him of the ground, dragging him toward the next floor. As he shot upward, his wounds all hissed and steamed as they healed. He stopped on the next floor and looked around. At first there was nothing there. Then, a portal opened and a Hell Vanguard stepped out, spinning its scythe over its head as a skull off to Vergil's right rose, the horns glowing red as fire burst into life on them and a black cloak formed from the skull and the Death Scythe picked up two scythes as two more rose into the air beside him.

"Of course," Vergil growled.

Just as he stepped forward, a red beam shot out of the Death Scythe's eyes, hitting the ground below Vergil's foot and forming a large fan that blew Vergil into the air before the Hell Vanguard appeared to his right, slashing at him. Vergil drew Yamato, blocking the scythe as the Death Scythe appeared opposite him, all four blades slashing at him. Vergil formed a Phantom Sword and caught it's grip, blocking the scythe blades with it before firing another into the skull and making the Death Scythe retreat. Then, he flipped over, slashing the Hell Vanguard with the Phantom Sword, splitting it in half. Vergil spun again, hurling the Phantom Sword at the Death Scythe but it slashed it, shattering the blade before flying at Vergil. Vergil slashed Yamato, a blast of energy shooting out in a crescent blade, cutting the tips off the scythes then missing the Death Scythe by an inch. It roared in rage and flew at Vergil, burning horns ready to impact with his chest. He slashed Yamato again and the blast this time split it down the middle, killing it. Vergil flipped over and landed on his feet then looked around as the portals formed. He sighed and stepped into the fire portal, smirking to himself.

"I may beat your time yet Dante," Vergil grinned.

* * *

Read and review.


End file.
